Thai Recipe: Chicken and Broccoli

There had been a can of coconut milk in our cabinet for quite some time.  My husband and I really like Thai food, but had never attempted to make any at home.  I wanted to have that can of coconut milk on hand in case I ever got up the nerve to make a curry dish.  We went shopping on Saturday, and I bought chicken and broccoli and raw peanuts among other things.  The children were excited about boiling peanuts because they wanted to help shell them, but the peanuts turned out too salty for our taste, so I was looking for a way to disguise them in a recipe.  All this led to a cooking experiment.

I found an uncomplicated list of ingredients for Thai chicken and broccoli on the internet, but there were no instructions for how to combine or cook them.  I had to just go for it.  Since the base of the recipe is not unlike the Peruvian food I am used to making, I wasn’t too worried.

I modified the ingredients list a little bit.  This is what I came up with:

1 inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. Thai curry paste (I used powder because that’s what I had in the cabinet.)
1 can of coconut milk
3 chicken thighs, cut into pieces (If you want to make a vegan curry, you can just leave the chicken out.  I imagine it would be just as good.)
about 20 raw broccoli florets
2 green onions, including tops, chopped
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 tsp. dried red chili powder
3 Tbsp. peanut butter
about 20 boiled peanuts, chopped (I had these prepared ahead of time.  They are optional, especially if you use chunky peanut butter.)

Put a spoonful of coconut oil in a stainless steel sauce pan on medium-low heat.  When the oil liquefies, toss in the onion, ginger and garlic along with the chili powder and curry paste.  Enjoy the smell and saute until soft.  Add the pieces of chicken and green onion.  Cook thoroughly.  Then add the peanut butter, peanuts and the entire can of coconut milk.  Stir and bring to a very low boil.  Add the broccoli and cook until tender (but still bright green).  Check for saltiness and serve hot with rice.

You know how some food makes you feel lethargic?  You eat dinner, but then feel worse than you did when you were hungry.  Well, this made me feel great!  Maybe I need more broccoli in my life!  It is a Superfood.  We had a little bit left over so I reheated it and added more broccoli for lunch.

. . .

This photo is of the leftovers, so it seems thicker here.

. . .